Pile cloth comprises a ground fabric, typically plain, rib, twill, or satin weave, from one face of which projects tufts forming the pile. The other face is smooth and clearly reveals the weave.
Such pile cloth is typically made by weaving two fabrics at the same time, each of a respective set of warp and weft yarns. An extra set of warp yarns is strung between the two fabrics and a certain number of the weft filaments for each fabric are in fact woven around these weft yarns. When the two fabrics are cut apart and the extra set of warp yarns is discarded, there is left a pair of fabrics each having one face bearing a pile formed by the cut ends of the weft filaments that were looped around the extra warp yarns.
For use as a wash cloth, it is desired to have pile on both sides. Thus the above-described pile fabrics are sewed together, back to back, so that both outer faces have pile. This labor- and material-intensive production unnecessarily elevates the cost of this mundane item. In addition the space between the two single-face pile fabrics can hold dirt and bacteria.